Method for using self-help technology to deliver remote enterprise support

• US 20040039805A1
• Filed: 08/22/2002
• Published: 02/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Connelly, Jon Christopher, Loy, Eric William, Carr, Adam Michael, Horn, Kimberly C., Mayott, Stewart W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,143,415 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

In a service-based remote support delivery system and method, service engineers supported by an analysis server receive incident reports from both personal computers and from unmanned servers within an enterprise. The incidents arise both from user-created reports of problems, from event annunciators that monitor hardware and software to report events as they occur, and from the periodic gathering of configuration data. These incident reports are combined with host information and contact information and are transmitted to the analysis server.

Claims

1. An apparatus for delivering remote enterprise support comprising:

a user interface that accepts information defining requests for assistance or reports of problems from users;

an event handler that accepts information defining reports of events from annunciators and/or investigators associated with hardware and/or software;

a source of configuration and contact information relating to unmanned computers or nodes as well as to manned computers; and

an incident management system that uniformly combines and conveys and manages all of this information, making it available to service personnel.

2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 which further comprises:

a parser that parses the combined information to make it more readily manageable, the parser governed by a data structure definition that reflects the structure of all the varying types of information combined.

3. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1 which further comprises:

scripts which can run periodically on computers to gather configuration data and to submit the configuration data as part of the uniformly combined and conveyed information to aid service personnel.

4. An apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein the incident management system further comprises:

an adapter that channels the configuration data to a configuration database accessible to service personnel.

5. A method for delivering remote enterprise support comprising:

accepting from users requests for assistance or reports of problems;

accepting from annunciators and/or investigators associated with hardware and/or software information defining events;

gathering configuration and contact information relating to both unmanned and manned computers; and

uniformly collecting, combining, conveying, and managing information resulting from the accepting steps, combining it with the gathered information, and making it available to service personnel.

6. A method in accordance with claim 5 further comprising:

parsing the combined information to make it more readily manageable, the parsing governed by a data structure definition that reflects the structure of all the varying types of information.

7. A method in accordance with claim 5 further comprising:

periodically gathering configuration data and submitting it as part of the combined information to aid service personnel.

8. A method in accordance with claim 7 further comprising:

intercepting such configuration information and placing it into a configuration database accessible to service personnel.

9. An apparatus for delivering remote enterprise support comprising:

user interface means for accepting requests for assistance or reports of problems from users;

event handler means for accepting reports of events from annunciators and/or investigators associated with hardware and/or software;

means for providing configuration and contact information relating to unmanned computers or nodes as well as to manned computers; and

incident management means for uniformly combining and conveying and managing all of this information, making it available to service personnel.